Trolley-guard



(No Model.)

F. S. BIRTH.

TROLLEY GUARD.

No. 567,879. Patented Sept. 15, 1896.

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llNIrEn STATES PATENT @rrrce.

FRED s. BIRTH, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

TROLLEY-G UARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 567,879, datedSeptember 15, 1896.

Application filed November 19, 1895. Serial No. 569,378. (No model.)

To aZl whom it may concern.-

.Be it known that I, FRED S. BIRTH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inTrolley- Guards, of which the following is a full, clear, I

and exact specification.

My invention relates to a new and useful improvement in trolley-guards,and has for its object to provide a device which will prevent thedisplacement of the trolley-wheel from the feed-wire duringits travelthereon, and especially when passing under cross-wires or switches.

With these ends in view the invention conings drawings, forming a partof this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of theupper portion of a trolley-pole having myimprovement applied thereto,and Fig. 2 is a central vertical section thereof.

Similar numbers denote like parts in the views of the drawings.

Great difficulty has heretofore been experienced in maintaining contactand alinement between the trolley-wheel and feed-wire in electricpropulsion on account of the oscillation of the car to which thetrolley-pole is attached, as well as the necessity of the trolleywheelpassing under cross-wires, switches, and the like, and it has been foundimpossible to prevent a single trolley-wheel from jumping off itsfeed-wire when the car is moving at a rapid rate. To overcome thisdifficulty I, provide a rock-arm 1, which is pivoted to a collar 2,secured upon the trolleypole In the upper ends of this rock-arm whichare forked, are journaled the secondary trolley-wheels at.

5are coiled springs attached to the rockarm at either side of itspivot-point and connected at 6 to the trolley-pole, so as to maintainthe rock-arm normally in a horizontal position or at right angles to thetrolley-pole. 7 are bracket-arms secured by means of a clamp 8 to thepole just below the fork in which the primary trolley-wheel 9 isjournaled and. extending up both sides thereof, terminating in bearings10, in which are fitted the shanks 11 of the fingers 12. These fingersare arranged in close proximity to the primary wheel, so as to leaveless space therebetween than the thickness of the feed'wire, which willprevent the latter from crowding between said fingers and wheel.

13 are coiled springs so arranged around the shanks 11 as to impart aresilient movement to the fingers in order that when the trolley-wheelpasses under a cross-wire the fingers, in coming in contact with saidcrosswire, will be depressed and then spring upward to their normalposition, thereby embracing the wire and preventing the wheel from sidemovement.

Secured to the rock-arm, just below each of the forks in which thesecondary trolleys are journaled, are bracket-arms 14:, similar in allrespects to those described in connection with the primarytrolley-wheel, and in the upper end of these bracket-arms are alsopivoted fingers 15, constructed and operated in the same manner as thefingers 12, and for the same purpose, so that as the car passes alongthe track and the trolley-wheels 4 and 9 travel upon the feed-wire saidtrolley-wheels are prevented from sidewise displacement by means of thefingers, and when said fingers come in contact with a cross-wire thefirst pair are depressed and again resume their normal position beforethis primary pair come in contact with said cross-wire, and these latterfingers are likewise depressed and assume their normal position uponeither side of feed-wire before the last fingers 15 come in contacttherewith. By this arrangement it will be seen that at no time are thetrolleywheels free to jump sidewise off the feedwire, and as therock-arm may assume different angles relative to the trolley pole, onaccount of the elasticity of the springs 5, said pole is adapted totravel upon the feed-wire, which varies in height from the car, withoutcausing the trolley-Wheels to lose their hearing upon said wire.

Another advantage of my improvement is that in crossing a break or crossmain line one or the other of the three trolley-wheels will at all timesbe in contact with the live feed-wire of the line upon which they aretravcling, and therefore the current to the car is neverinterrupted, asis the case with the constructions now in use.

I am aware that slight modifications might be made in the constructionsshown and described without departing from the spirit of my invention,and I therefore do not Wish to limit myself to this exact construction.

Having thus fully described my invention, what 1 claim as new is- 1. Ina device of the character described, a trolley-arima primarytrolley-Wheel carried thereby, a rock-arm pivoted to said trolleyarm,two secondary trolley-Wheels journaled in said rock-arm and. springs forretaining the rock-arm in a normal position, as and for the purposedescribed.

2. The herein-described combination of a trolley-arm, a primarytrolley-Wheel carried thereby, a rock-arm pivoted to said trolleyarm,two secondary trolley-wheels journaled in said rock-arm, springs forretaining said rock-arm in a normal position and permitting I it toassume a number of angles relative to said pole, and spring-actuatedfingers arranged upon either side of the trolley-Wheels, whereby thelatter are prevented from jumping off the feed-wire.

3. In a device of the character described, a trolley-arm, atrolley-wheel journaled in a fork on the end of said trolley-arm arockarin pivoted to the trolley-arm below the fork, springs connectingthe tWo sides of the rockarm to the trolley-arm, supplementaltrolleywheels journaled in forks on the ends to the rock-arm andspring-pressed fingers adapted to guard each trolley-wheel, as and forthe purpose described.

I11 testimony whereof I have hereunto af fixed mysignature in thepresence of tWo sub scribing witnesses.

FRED S. BIRTH.

\Vitnesses:

S. S. WILLIAMSON, SAMUEL L. TAYLOR.

